Care to Dance?
by MasterVash
Summary: Padme calls upon Anakin and Ashoka, with the help of Rex for an undercover mission to catch a slippery traitor. But who will have the first dance?
1. The Call

Bleep. Bleep. Bleep.

Anakin slowly flickered his eyes open, trying to focus on the irritating beeping noise that engulfed the silent room yet seemed so far away, as he woke up and started to become more alert he saw the beeping was his comm link. Groaning, he leaned over to the side of his bunk on the _Resolute_ and snatched the annoying comm.

"Skywalker here." He mumbled.

"Anakin, it's-"

"Padme?" Anakin bolted upright, suddenly awake at the sound of his wife's voice.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, no I was just resting, it's fine." He replied wiping the sleep from his still tired eyes, "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She hesitated a moment before continuing on, "I-I wanted to ask of you a favour."

"Sure, anything."

Padme was straight to the point, voice dimmed down to a low whisper in fear of somebody on her end of the line would hear, "There is believed to be a spy in the senate disguised as a senator, he goes by the name of Senator Lon Adabiila. We have proof that he's been in contact with the Separatists and is capable of putting the Republic Senate in Jeopardy."

Anakin thought this was going to be more than just a "can you pick some blue milk up on your way home" type favour, but Padme could be in potential danger and he wasn't about to let that happen. "So you want me to get this guy? Lock him up?" He asked not quite sure what she was asking him to do, although it sounded as if she was asking for a lot.

"Yes, but he's a difficult man to come into contact with, he's always 'slipping away' and seems to get around quite a bit, a-"

"Have you gone to the Chancellor about this Padme?" Anakin asked, cutting her off.

"No! Of course not, if Adabiila found out that someone is aware of his actions it can put a lot of people, possibly the entire senate at risk!" Her voice was getting a little louder as she spoke.

Anakin sighed, she was right. "Okay, fair enough. But how am I going to find him if he's been covering his tracks and is impossible to locate?"

"There is a ball held by the Republic annually, where a majority of the Senators meet, he has been invited so our best bet is that he'll be there."

Anakin smiled, she already had it all sorted she just needed him to finish it off. "When is this_ Ball_?"

"In about five days, I-"

Anakin jumped in surprise, not realising he was practically yelling through the comm link. "Five days?! We get back to Coruscant in exactly five days Padme! I don't think this is-"

"Trust me Anakin, you'll be able to plan it out on your way." Her voice was pleading and begging him to do this for her, "I had Republic Intelligence look into it for me and it definitely _is_ the right guy. Please Ani; I know you can do it."

Anakin thought for a moment, he would have to plan an arrest in five days and he wasn't too good at the undercover tactical planning scene. All he could do was try- _No! Do, there is no try_. he thought to himself, repeating the words of Master Yoda in his head, he sighed and gave Padme his answer.

""O-Okay, just send me all the details on my personal data pad and get me in contact with whoever got the Intel, Ashoka and I will figure something out."

"Thank you Anakin." He could hear the smile in her voice as she spoke, but her tone was quickly replaced with panic and urgency, "I have to go, I love you and can't wait to see you soon."

"IloveyoutooPadme." Anakin said so fast, so she would hear it before she hurriedly closed the link. Anakin smiled to himself at the thought of her last words, it could have been his imagination but he had the impression that she might have had this in mind for a while, knowing he was due back soon and using it as an opportunity to see him again… if that was the case, he wasn't complaining.

Yawning, he punched in for Ashoka waiting for her to answer her comm link and was acknowledged with a grunt and a tired groan.

"Ashoka, wake up."

"Master," she whined, still half asleep, "Can't it-"

"No it can't. I want you up and in the briefing room in 20 minutes."

Ashoka sounded as if she'd rolled back into her previous sleeping position and nestled herself underneath her bed covers whilst still talking with her comm link. "What's so im-"

"Be there Snips!"

Anakin was answered with an irritated and attitude filled "fine" before he closed the link, he was about to set it back down again when another thought came to mind. He needed this mission to run smoothly and successfully and to do that it would require skill and reliability, he needed experience as well as team work to get the job done, done right all at the same time as inheriting Padme's appreciation for doing an excellent job… and he knew just the person.

"Captain, briefing room in 20 minutes."

"Yes sir." Was the automated response he received; expecting no different.

…to be continued.


	2. Tension

_Is this going to be chapter 2???.... YES! Is it short because I didn't really know where to break it off and I'm tired…. YOU BETCHA!!! XD haha… enjoy guyz, next one will be up even SOONER, I promise!! YAY!!!_

Rex walked briskly down the corridors of the _Resolute_ making his way to the briefing room, he found it a little disappointing that they had already had their next mission set in place, that would mean he'd be changing ships as soon as they got back to Triple Zero… so no R&R for him.

As he turned the corridor in which the briefing room was situated in he noticed someone coming from the opposite direction, when he saw that it was Ashoka he stopped to open the door for her, she smiled and nodded at the kind gesture.

"Thank you, Captain."

"So what's the problem Master?" She asked walking in the room, looking around expecting to see more clones, but it looked to be only her, Anakin and Rex.

"Rex, shut the door." Anakin watched as Rex walked over to close the door, the moment it shut he spoke again, "Okay, this is now an undercover mission briefing."

Ashoka looked at him with eyebrows raised, "Undercover? Master, we're in the middle of space, there's no cover to go under.' She added being cocky.

"Ashoka, I'm not in the mood." Anakin said throwing her a look that got him a mumbled and embarrassed 'sorry' from the padawan.

'In short, there's a suspected senate spy that's double dealing," he explained whilst typing in a comm code with his back to the two, "He goes by the name of Lon Adabilla and is putting the Senate at Risk; and it's up to us to make sure he spends the rest of this war in a cell."

"Suspected?" Rex asked confused, "Sir, are you sure he's a traitor?"

"Well, that's what we need to clarify." He replied as the comm was searching for the number. Anakin straightened up when it beeped telling him it had.

"This is General-"

"Skywalker." The person in the hologram finished and smirked, "I see the Senator has already contacted you."

Anakin sighed, _Great, out of all people. It could be worse I guess_. He looked up at the Null ARC trooper or Ordo as he preferred. "Hello Captain, Yes she has, but wasn't specific with the details."

"Wasn't specific or your just an idiot?"

"The former." Anakin said harshly through gritted teeth.

Ordo grinned at the Jedi's expression as he continued. "Well basically all we need you to do is get this guy locked up, it's a small job but somebody has to do it."

"And what's wrong with the Coruscant Guard troopers? They're perfectly capable of doing this, because it's, well, let's see it's… their job!"

"Really?" Ordo asked sarcastically, "Wow, that's incredible, and here I was thinking Jedi were all lightsabers, peace and assholes." Ordo raised his eyebrows looking at the furious Jedi in amusement.

"Well genius, as efficient and well trained Commander Fox and his men are, Adabilla will obviously be expecting that, and if he has been spying on our actions than he can easily find out when and where Fox will arrest him, thus giving him the advantage of running." Ordo stated. "Plus, if it's planned well out of reach from him, then he won't have any suspicions, it's a win, win."

Anakin mentally slapped himself… duh! "Okay, so how am I supposed to track him down? The Senator said something about a ball."

"Yes, the annual Antei Satii "ball", every senator is invited and yes, we have confirmation that he's attending. So it's simple; intercept his speeder."

Anakin narrowed his eyes, already formulated a cocky reply. "If it's so _simple_, then why aren't you or any of those other nut jobs doing it?" he was proud of himself.

"Because us _nut jobs _are more than a week away from Coruscant, and this ball thing is in five days." Ordo replied, angry and now _really_ pissed off with the Jedi. Rex knew the relationship his General and his brother had, so being the man he stepped in and quickly changing the topic area before things started to get bad.

"Sir, Adabilla could be under Sep protection, intercepting his vehicle could prove a lot harder if that's the case."

"Then we get him on our turf." Ashoka who hadn't said a word the whole conversation piped up, she spoke carefully, trying not to make it sound stupid as everyone turned to face her.

"A smart tactic Commander." Ordo smiled, he liked this Togruta girl she was alright, apparently from the look she was getting from Rex his brother did too, too bad she had Skywalker as a master he'd probably already nearly gotten her killed before.

"Look, I don't care how you do it, as long as I have a prisoner to interrogate when I get back." Ordo nodded to Rex, "Re'turcye mhi ner vod, good luck Commander and Skywalker, don't frack this up, I worked hard for this Intel." The shimmering hazy blue figure of Ordo vanished.

"That's new." Anakin muttered to himself, he straightened up, his voice now louder, "I hate that guy."

Ashoka looked at a little confused, probably over the interaction between her Master and the ARC. "What was with you, I thought he was really nice Master."

"Yeah? Well wait until you meet him in person."

"Uh, Captain Ordo and General Skywalker have a bit of a, well _rocky_ relationship, Commander." Rex directed at Ashoka, he thought it'd be best to fill her in, it would probably save Anakin the embarrasment. He looked over at Anakin, "Doesn't get along with Skirata and his gang, do you sir."

"I see." Was Ashoka's reply, she'd heard a lot about Skirata mainly from Rex and the other clones, she'd heard a bit about him from the Jedi too… although he didn't seem to be too popular with them she noticed. It didn't take a genius to fit it all together.

Anakin dropped down into the chair at the meeting table that filled almost the entire room, "Well, we should start planning this arrest then."


	3. Cream filled fun?

Ten slow hours had passed by of sitting around planning the arrest of 'Senator' Lon Amidala, Rex had his head down in data pads trying to configure plans and tactics, while Ashoka sat with her head lain on the table claiming she was 'brainstorming'. Anakin paced back and forth up the table in frustration, when he stopped and groaned as he brought his hands down hard on the table.

"Ugh, we're not getting anywhere!"

Ashoka jumped up in surprise and Rex didn't even flinch, his eyes drifting up toward Skywalker. "It's only been 10 hrs sir, we've still got 4 days."

"Yeah," Ashoka piped up, "It doesn't have to be done in one session, and we've got heaps of time."

Anakin glared at his padawan, "No, we don't Snips." He sighed, and looked over at Rex, "Okay, let's try again, what have we got?"

Rex pushed the data pad aside and straightened up, he was now typical 'ready-for-action' Rex. "Adabilla will be travelling by speeder to _Niala_ hall; our first option is to arrest him in his apartment."

Anakin folded his arms, planning away in his head as Rex spoke. "Which, we are not 100% sure where and could be under Separatist protection." He turned around with his back to them trying to think, Rex nodded at his words and continued on.

"Our second option is to intercept his speeder on the way to the hall, this could work but Adabilla could, once again, be under Sep protection," he sighed, "and that makes intercepting harder as it could possibly endanger civilians and can easily turn against us, by possibly outnumbering what we have…"

"… because we'd be going after him practically blinded." Ashoka finished, looking at Rex who nodded.

"Exactly."

Anakin made a grumbling noise that portrayed his anger, he spun around but this time not hitting the table, Ashoka was grateful. "Agh, why are these plans so useless?!" He yelled.

Rex felt a little insulted, not that he really cared either way but Skywalker expected too much and they had only been there ten hours, it takes a little longer then a few hours to plan something the way the General wanted it anyway. He was relieved when Ashoka stepped in, she spoke with calmness but Rex could tell she was just as insulted as he was, at least he wasn't alone then.

"Master, we're trying the best we can!" she retorted, "And it's only been a day; you have to have patience."

"Sorry, I'm sorry okay." He said pinching the bridge of his nose, his head was starting to ache, "I just- Is that all we have?"

Rex quickly checked his data pad then spoke, "We have another option Sir, the traditional 'wait-for-him-to-arrive-then-step-out-from-behind-the-door' routine."

Anakin turned to Rex, looking at him like the Captain was delusional, "We just wait for Adabilla to get there and arrest him at the door whilst standing there?" he asked.

Ashoka was now looking at him with the same look her Master had just given him, he quickly continued, "Well, yes basically, but it's not as simple as that b-"

"He would be standing right there!" Ashoka cut in, "Arresting him would be as simple as… well sleeping. That sounds easy!"

"As easy as it sounds, it won't be. Adabilla knows what he's doing is wrong, so he'll be prepared as he would have been living in caution for the past months assuming someone knows about his actions. Arresting him at the door would be obvious."

Ashoka's expression changed to an embarrassed one as a small "oh" barely escaped her lips and she looked down at her lap. Rex felt horrible; he quickly spoke trying to reassure her.

"Y-You have to, uh, think like the criminal, not many people would think like that though," he was mumbling now, "Comes from years of being trained by mercenaries, I guess." He shrugged and chuckled.

Rex looked at Ashoka hoping he hadn't hurt her feelings, and was relieved when she giggled and looked up with a tiny smile. The Captain smiled back, he was glad he'd hadn't offended her plus he made her smile… he liked her smile, it was very unique, he thought it- _Focus Rex_. Rex snapped out of his thoughts and looked up at Anakin, who sat thinking for a minute before he stood up.

"Let's take a break then. Remember everything said in this room is confidential and no discussing the mission, if you have something to say, you come and see me." He nodded at the two, "Understood?"

Rex saluted and chirped a 'Yes Sir' and Ashoka just nodded.

"Excellent." Anakin said as they walked to the door, he went off toward the med bay in search of something to help his headache whilst Rex and Ashoka went to the Mess.

***

When the two arrived at the Mess Hall they both went to acquire something to eat and looked for a place to sit, Rex spotted a couple of seats available that was close to the entrance. They both went to sit down with the clones and as Rex was putting down his tray he noticed all the clones had some kind of cream filled cake casings, except for Del and Coric who had two.

"A little hungry today fella's?" Rex asked, all the clones just shrugged and continued back to conversation. Rex looked over at Coric who was grinning mischievously; Rex raised an eyebrow at the trooper. "What?"

"Hey Coric, he's on his way now." Del informed his brother quickly. Coric's eyes seemed to light up at those words, Rex could feel something was about to happen.

"Coric, what are you doing?"

"Well, ever since Echo moved into the barracks he's been on us worse than Commander Cody. _You can't do that while he's sleeping, don't stick that in there and it's against regulations to wear this_." Coric imitated Echo, and all the other clones at the table laughed. "He's driving us nuts!"

"So what are the cake things for?" Rex asked confused indicating the casings all around the table, no other clone in the Mess other than at the table seemed to have one so something was definitely going on.

"Well, we thought it'd be best to let him know how we feel." Del answered giggling.

"And where he can stick his regulations too." A clone grumbled from the end of the table. Rex looked up at the clone who just spoke then back at Coric.

"I see. I shouldn't be saying this but why not just "tell" him while he's in barracks, unsuspecting?" Rex asked.

"Because he knows he's pissing us off." Coric shrugged, "And if we get him on our turf, he won't be expecting it and we can easily 'attack' him."

Rex didn't like the way Coric had used attack in that sentence, he had a feeling this is probably something he didn't want to be around for as it'd probably be him who will have to deal with it. Rex looked at Ashoka who hadn't said anything at all, except she was staring at Coric and was deep in thought. Rex was just about to ask her if she was alright when she jumped up from her seat and leaned over the table hugging Coric.

"Coric, you're a genius!" She yelled, all the clones looked at her and Coric's confused face, like the rest at the table, just grinned.

"I know my plan was good, but I didn't think it was that good."

"Yeah," Del added, "It has its flaws."

Ashoka quickly put all her food back on the tray and put it in the bin next to the table, she got up and grabbed Rex's, arm pulling him away from the table; and his meal.

"C'mon Rex, we have to go find Master!"

The two were nearly at the door when Ashoka stopped and moved to the side out of the way, Rex was right next to her. Just as they both moved the door swooshed open and suddenly an army of cream filled cake casings came flying into the clone that had just walked through the doors. The Mess erupted in laughter as poor Echo looked down at his freshly cleaned armour that was now covered in cream, Rex looked over at Del and Coric who were literally rolling on the ground and over each other in fits of laughter.

The Captain felt a tugging as Ashoka started pulling him out the door, as the two ran off to find Anakin they could hear distant yelling echoing from the Mess, Rex could have _sworn_ he heard the word "manual". He sighed at Echo's naïve reasoning as he kept running trying to follow Ashoka.

"Why are we getting Skywalker?" he asked her, "They'll just yell a bit then it'll be over."

"No, it's not about that," she said slightly out of breath as they rounded the corner, "Coric just gave me the perfect idea."

"We're not going to go throw cake casings full of cream at General Skywalker are we?" Rex asked a little unsure, you never know, she _could_ have had that in mind, it was hard to tell with her.

Ashoka laughed and looked at Rex, "No silly, maybe at Adabilla though." She grinned.

"Oh." Rex said realising she'd just come up with a plan for their current mission, he decided not to say anything else until they found Skywalker; he would rather if the General was in a better mood before putting yet _another_ idea forward to him. Ashoka suddenly stopped, and Rex nearly ran into her.

"He can't knock back **this **one." Rex was hoped she was right.


	4. Advice

_Just keep in mind that Rex is not supposed to be a jerk in this chapter… hence the words "Intense Training"……. Enjoy. ;D_

"You want to do what?"

"Go to the ball." Ashoka grinned at her master, as she stood up straight with her hands behind her back and rocking on the heels of her feet.

"Ashoka, this is a serious mission, not some kind of rest break."

"No master, I mean _we_ can go to the ball." Rex and Anakin watched the padawan walk across the room and back, "We need to keep Adabilla unsuspecting yes? Well, what if we went to the ball, as guests of course, and arrest him in there. He's vulnerable and the odds are on our side."

Anakin made a humming noise in his throat, a sign he was unsure, "Hmmm, that's-"

"Brilliant." Rex cut in changing the General's sentence, the Captain turned to Anakin, "Sir, she's perfectly right, we will have the upper hand and he won't suspect a thing, we'd just be going as if we were invited, nothing out of the ordinary."

Ashoka stood there with a wide smile, gleaming in pride as she watched her master think not fully satisfied with the idea, apparently Rex thought it was great and that made her smile that little bit more.

"Okay, so let me clarify this… you want to _go_ to this ball, as what? A Senator?" Anakin almost seemed as he was snorting at the idea.

"Well they're not exactly after entertainment, Master. So… yeah." Ahsoka seemed dead serious.

Rex was standing silently in between the two jedi, in deep thought when he piped up. "General, it's the best option available to us and the most efficient." He turned to Anakin and took off his helmet, "The only fault I can see in the plan is how we get into the ball; we need an invite… or something."

Ashoka slightly hunched her shoulders in defeat, maybe it wasn't going to work, she hadn't thought about the invite.

"Leave that to me." Ahsoka's head jerked toward her Master, and Anakin grinned. "Ahsoka, I want you to get a hold on a layout of _Niala_ Hall, as well as any other info that may come in handy. Rex, I want strategies and a game plan."

"Yes sir."

"Now, I have to contact Senator Amidala about that invite." Anakin made his way past the two, stopping to pat Ahsoka on the shoulder, "You did good Snips." He gave her a wink before exiting.

The padawan was still grinning as she turned to face Rex, he smiled at her and nodded. "Good work Commander. You must be hanging around with us smart and incredibly brilliant clones so much; it's starting to rub off on you eh?" Rex chuckled, normally he wouldn't joke around like his brothers, but he felt comfortable around Ahsoka –as a friend of course- to fall out of perfect officer mode and have a laugh with who he considered his closest friend. The girl giggled and punched Rex lightly in the arm.

"You're a piece of work Rexter."

"I try." Rex checked his chrono on his arm plate and straightened up; he grabbed his helmet and gave Ahsoka a casual salute as he brushed past her toward the door, "I've got things to do, Commander. I will see you later."

"Bye." She watched the door he'd left in and mumbled, "I'll just sit in here by myself and work alone for the next few hours then." She sighed, hoping Rex would have stayed so she'd have had at least someone to talk too.

"Okay then. These blueprints won't find themselves."

****************

Ahsoka's gaze drifted away from the computer up toward the chrono on the wall. _Two hours?!_ What seemed like forever, she'd been foregoing the task her Master had set for her… so far she'd had no luck, and was starting to get sick of looking at the glowing screen.

Sighing, she decided she'd had enough; she closed down what she was viewing and got up, making her way out of the room. As she made her way down the now busy corridor of the ship, she stretched her muscles and yawned… space travel always made her feel tired and lazy.

Ahsoka turned down the next corridor and stopped, deciding what to do now, maybe she could go see what Rex and the clones was up to, so she made her way to the barracks. Looking around she could see no sign of Rex or any of his men, even though the barracks was full of men who all looked the same she could still tell which of the troopers were in the Captain's Company, Rex was influential that way.

Weaving her way through all the troopers going about their business, she stopped to ask one of the men sitting on his bunk in a different Company sleeping area, reading a data pad.

"Hey, sorry to bother you." The clone didn't look up, too immersed in what he was reading and barely raised his hand in an attempt to salute, "Um, do you have any idea where any of Torrent Company are?" All she received was a grunt and a shrug, before she could say anything more another clone from the same Company, judging but the similarities in their armour markings, came up to her and saluted politely.

"Sorry about him Commander, he's being a little difficult today." The trooper shot his brother sitting on his bunk a glare, "And _very_ uncooperative."

"Says you, Sarge." The trooper grumbled.

The Sargent rolled his eyes and looked at Ahsoka. "Is there something you need Commander?"  
"I was just looking for Torrent Company, any idea where I might find them?" she asked, "I don't see any of them, which is strange."

"Yeah, apparently their Captain has them all in an "Intensive training" session in the gym." The Sargent used his fingers and emphasised the words 'intensive training', Ahsoka looked at the man confused. "You gotta hand it to Rex; he's a proud man… that and his boys need a little discipline." He looked at the trooper on the bunk, "Captain Iro could take a few tips from him for our bunch; hey Sted?"

Sted, still reading his data pad, raised his hand up to his Sargent throwing him a rude hand gesture; the trooper just laughed at his brother, just making Sted even more annoyed.

"Thanks Sargent." Ahsoka said as she quickly patted his shoulder as she walked past him, leaving the Barracks. She started for the Gym, curious to see what the Sargent had meant by 'intensive training'.

The Gym wasn't too far from the barracks and as the padawan drew nearer she could hear yelling and in response grunts and hard clanks of metal falling down hard on metal. As she slowly turned into the door she saw some members of Torrent Company scattered on equipment all round the training room, as well as their plastoid armour plates. All of them wore only the bottom half of their black body suits, some full, and from knee down they still had their armoured boots on, Ahsoka thought it looked a little funny.

Her gaze drifted to the left side of the room where she saw half the Company sprinting to the wall and then back to the line where they dropped in front of Rex and started on 25 push ups before returning to the wall. As they ran back to Rex once again, she watched as the Captain walked up and down the line yelling as he counted each push up the troopers did all in perfect sync.

Apart from yelling out orders on the battlefield, Ahsoka had never seen Rex really 'yell', well what he was doing at the moment was more like screaming, she wouldn't be too surprised if Torrent Company developed hearing problems.

As they continued their routine, Rex stopped at one point in the line and crossed his arms as he frowned at two troopers who were completely out of formation and time with the rest of the line, one of them had a grin on his face whilst the one wearing his full black body suit had a determined yet annoyed look on his face as he kept glaring at the other. Ahsoka jumped as Rex resumed his screaming, this time directed at the two who were out of place.

"GOING TOO FAST FOR YOU ARE WE ECHO?!" Rex yelled, as Echo and the other trooper who kept -_deliberately_- getting in his way dropped down in front of Rex, whilst the rest of the group were now running.

"With all due respect, sir…" Echo panted, raising himself up and down, "Coric is making it difficult to keep in sync with the group, sir." He shot a look next to him at Coric who just grinned.  
As they completed their push ups and started their running, Coric slipped his foot in front of Echo who tripped and fell forward, knocking over the trooper on the right of him.

"GET UP!" Rex yelled.

Coric was giggling to himself as he kept running to the wall, giving Del –who was running next to him on his left- a highfive as they passed each other. Laughing, he turned at the wall and started for Rex again, still out of formation with the others. Echo timed his moment, so before Coric could even drop to the floor to start his push ups, he leaped down into him, tackling him to the ground. Echo was kneeling over Coric, swinging his fists at his face whilst Coric was blocking the blows with his forearms.

All the troopers stopped and looked over at the two fighting over ground, Rex ran over to them and grabbed Echo by the shoulders, pulling the clone up with force.

"GET OVER THERE!" the captain yelled, shoving Echo to the side, he turned back to Coric lying on the ground covering his nose. "You, UP!"

Coric scrambled to his feet, making sure to keep his distance from the Captain who was now yelling not to be heard but because he was _really_ angry. Both troopers stood either side of their Captain, breathing heavily and Coric now had blood running out his nose, dripping off his jaw and down his chest.

"What the frack do you think you're doing, Echo?!" Rex wasn't yelling as loud now, but he was still yelling. "I don't care what's going on between the two of you, but it's over!"

"But Sir, C-"

"No!" Rex raised his finger at Echo, "I don't care who started it… it's finished!... Am I understood?!"

"Sir, yes Sir!" Both troopers yelled together.

"Both of you are on Latrine cleaning until we get back to Triple Zero and then for a month on our next ship out!" There were snickers all around the room from the rest of the Company, as Coric and Echo were assigned their punishment. Rex turned to Coric who was covered in blood. "Go get that fixed, and don't bother coming back either, I'm fed up with you today."

Coric mumbled a quick 'Yes Sir' as he stalked straight out the door, only then as Rex watched him go did he notice Ahsoka standing in the corner, his posture straightened at the sight of her.

"Commander." He said as he and the other clones around the room saluted.

Ahsoka waved her hand at them, indicating for them to stand down. "I was just looking for you boys."

"Really?" Rex seemed to say it as if in disbelief, he thought she'd be hanging off her Master for more training sessions, or whatever else jedi do, he was also a little glad. "Well, you found us." He turned to Echo, "I'm just trying to build _discipline_, but that doesn't seem to be working."

Echo looked away from his Captain's scowl, and Rex pointed over to the weight lifting equipment, "In the corner, now." He watched as Echo slumped past him to go start on the weights, Rex turned to the rest of the troopers, "Alright boys, switch over."

The group that was using the different equipment made their way over to where they'd be starting their running exercise with Rex and the others who'd just endured it made their way over to the equipment. Ahsoka walked up to Rex, who rubbing his hand over his face in defeat, he was over today already.

Ahsoka tried to break the tension. "I just got sick of looking for photo's of….uh, _flowers_."

Rex raised an eyebrow at the Togruta, and then caught on to what she meant. Walking over to the line of men who had started their running exercise, Rex smiled. "Find any good ones?"

"Not really, actually none..." She trailed off and her gaze drifted over to where Echo was laying on the bench press, lifting weights, he gave off such a weird vibe in the force. Rex turned to her and followed her gaze to the man.

"I-I'm going to go talk to Echo, see if I can sort something out." She mumbled as she walked over to the man, Rex watched her lean over the bench press, looking down and silently talking to Echo; he just kept moving his arms up and down, not responding to Ahsoka… just listening. Rex turned around to see how the running exercises were going when the sound of clanking and yelling made him spin around faster than a jump to Hyperspace.

"NO YOU DON'T!" Echo screamed at Ahsoka's face, the jedi didn't even flinch. "YOU HAVE _NO_ IDEA!"

"HEY! Stand do-" Rex yelled starting to make his way over in order to protect Ahsoka, she raised her hand up to stop and quiet the Captain.

"Rex, it's okay." She turned to Echo who slumped down onto the Bench press, resting his arms on his knee's and head in his hands. "Echo." She whispered as she sat down beside him.

"When I was a little girl, youngling, at the temple, I was so afraid of being left behind, or dumped." She sighed, as she reminisced, "I was afraid if I broke a single rule, the Jedi would dump me back on Shilli with _nothing_, and so I lived by the code, down to the last letter."

She placed her hand on his shoulder carefully, she trusted him that he wouldn't lash out on her. "I watched as a few of the younglings I was friends with broke the rules, and I didn't want to loose them as they were the only thing I had to family. Afraid that they'd be thrown out of the Order, I kept reminding them of the Code, I kept pushing the rules on them, and then finally…" She pushed back the tears starting to form, "T-they all had enough, they isolated me, and I felt so…so _alone_."

Echo slowly turned his head toward Ahsoka and straightened up. "Like everyone hated you? Like they wanted you to just disappear?" The Padawan nodded sadly.

"Exactly." She squeezed his shoulder lightly, "But I realised that I was wrong, you can't force what you think is right on others, everyone is different and everyone has their own views on right and wrong… Just like you and your brothers." Echo looked at her and nodded; she gave him a little smile and patted his back.

"Just relax and be a little more laid back toward them, they don't hate you… and they'll never leave you behind." Ahsoka stood up and Echo followed, he nearly knocked her over as he threw his arms around her in a hug, she could feel the gratitude and respect rolling off him in the force.

"Thank you." He whispered, and she smiled. Rex watched the two with a hint of jealousy, he was glad Ahsoka had helped Echo, but he was a little disappointed in himself; the closest he had gotten to ever hugging her was when he had caught her as she collapsed from the Blue Shadow Virus. He heard one of the troopers whisper to the other… _If that's all you have to do to get 'close' to the Commander_….. Normally Rex would have responded to that, but right now all he could do was watch as Ahsoka answered her beeping comm, speak to her Master and leave the room.

After she'd gone he went back to leading his training session, as the troopers got up and ran to the wall he noticed Echo had joined in and was in perfect time with the rest of the line. As they ran back and dropped to the ground, Echo looked up at Rex… his expression said sorry.

Rex nodded, giving him a small wink. _Good on ya, kid._ 'He was glad Echo was enlightened; he'd had enough of today, he decided it was time to call it quits.

"Alright, training's over. Go get cleaned up." He went and collected his armour plates, then made his way back to barracks… if he was lucky, whatever new plans Skywalker had made to the mission; it could wait until he'd slept.

_To be continued…_


	5. On Camera

Rex leaned back in the chair with his feet propped up against the holoscreens, he sighed as he once again ran his cloth up his blaster, trying hard not to fall asleep. The Captain didn't think his blaster could get any cleaner, but he was just so dang bored, he hadn't thought Echo and Coric's punishment through; Coric in his mischievous ways had somehow gotten their latrine cleaning rounds scheduled at the same time of his security watch, and that meant of course that somebody had to fill in for him. Not wanting the incident between the two to get out and to the ears of superiors, Rex had agreed to do his watch, now leaving him cleaning his twin blasters for the twenty-seventh time.

Rex now realised why troopers always complained about security watch, all you did was stare at the screens for 8 hours, and nothing ever happened it was purely for the reason so that possible threats inside the ship can be spotted prematurely. Rex slowly sat up straight, it was time for another scan; there were over 200 security cameras throughout the _Resolute_, there were ones in the bedrooms and bathrooms but those were only activated in the event of a ship lockdown and enemy boarding attacks, so the whole ship could be monitored, enemies tracked throughout the ship and orders could be issued from the bridge.

The Captain flicked through the cameras, _Clear….clear…… and what do you know clear._ he thought to himself. Everything was the same, safe and just like before, he quickly flipped through the screens, watching the ship bustling about he scanned through all the major sections of the ship and recorded the all clear for each part.

One of the other clones on watch got up to leave the room as his shift was over, he patted Rex on the shoulder as he walked past, "Don't forget _D-town_ Sir." He chuckled and left.

Rex rolled his eyes, '_D-town_ was the name given to half section of the third deck, it was where all the droids were stored, all it consisted of is droid part storerooms, droid maintenance, etc, etc. _Nothing_ ever happened down there, it was always just overlooked and recorded down as 'clear', Rex decided to take a look anyway, he had nothing better to do and it needed to be done…at least once by _somebody._

As he flicked through the cameras in that sector, something caught his eye on the eighth one, in the storage room there was something moving around, Rex squinted a little trying to make out the moving figure, it wasn't a droid… or a clone, it looked like…. _Ahsoka?_

Rex leaned forward watching the Jedi move across the screen gracefully; he had no idea what she was doing, or why she was doing it in a droid storage room for that matter. He continued watching, entranced by the way she moved, as he started to slowly sink back into the chair, eyes still glued to the monitor he heard somebody approaching the room and it made him jump and quickly change the camera feed to the hanger. The moment he changed it Anakin walked into the room, he noticed the screen feeds and quickly walked up to them peering over the Captain's shoulder.

"Damn pilots are blaming me for the damage of the gunships." Anakin straightened and sat in the chair next to Rex, he used the force to lock the door to the room, "So how'd you end up with security watch Captain?" Anakin chuckled jokingly, not noticing Rex's sigh of Relief.

"Y'know," Rex shrugged, "its all part of the job. Is there something your after General?"

"Yes, I've contacted the Senator and she's managed to get two of us in, that's all though, she said she can take care of disguises, etc. we just need to come up with a plan."

Rex straightened up, "So what are we under?"

"Well," Anakin started, "we're going under guests to the representatives of Naboo, or something along those lines, either way our names will be on the list."

Rex thought for a moment, "Sir, when you say 'our names will be on the list'……"

"Ahsoka and myself." Anakin got up and paced around the room, deep in thought. "I think we're going to need some extra help, how many clones do you suggest Rex?" He looked over at Rex who was dazing off to the side, deep in thought; not that it really mattered but Rex felt a little disappointed, maybe he was even a little _jealous_ that Skywalker got to go to this ball with Ahsoka and not him, he shook the thought out of his head he'd been thinking these kind of thoughts a lot lately.

"Rex?"

"Huh, what?" Rex's attention came back to his control and was focused on Anakin.

"Men, how many of them will we need?"

"Oh right, only about two or three, I'll sort it before we get there." Rex started scribbling notes on his datapad he had pulled from the desk.

Anakin looked a little taken back by Rex's answer, but just shrugged knowing the clone would have it under control, he made his way to the door, stopping briefly before he exited.

"I'll go update Ahsoka, and check on her progress." Another question came to mind, "By the way, have you seen her?"

Rex froze slightly but not visibly, he casually shrugged not looking up from his data pad. "No sir, I haven't." Anakin nodded and left. Rex sighed, what was he supposed to say, '_Oh why yes sir, I've been watching her like some kind of lonely, jealous weirdo?,_ sometimes Rex wished that life would just light you up and work the way you desire, instead of it just, well…. _being._

Sighing, the Captain started planning his part whilst he had a moment of being alone.

"So we're both going to the ball?" Ahsoka sat in the chair in the briefing room, clarifying her Masters new information.

"Yes Snips," Anakin paced in front of her deep in thought, "How far have you gotten?"

Ahsoka brightened up, quickly going through her datapad to show her master the information she'd gathered. As she plugged it into the desk and a holo image of a technical map of _Niala _Hall showed up in front of their eyes.

"Wow Ahsoka, I'm impressed." Anakin leaned forward on the table squinting through the map. "Rex will be pleased when he see's th-"

"See's what?" Rex asked as he walked in the door saluting his two commanding officers, he looked at Ahsoka who was grinning.

"Ahsoka's found an entire full layout of the hall, everything we need is here." Anakin tilted his head toward Rex, "Now we all need is a plan." The jedi had said it as more of a demand than a statement; so far he hadn't really gotten anything out of Rex.

"With all due respect sir, I've been a little…" Rex glanced at Ahsoka briefly as he spoke, either of the Jedi could see it of course, he loved his helmet. "… _distracted_. But I will find time to-"

"Distracted?! Rex, this has to be done immediately!" Ankain started flaring up at the Captain. "You are in no position to start slacking off and disobeying orders! You have been set a task and you have a responsibility to finish it!"

Ahsoka looked a little surprised at her masters outburst, she knew why (well _thought _she did.) Rex was distracted lately, he was trying to keep the little saga with Echo and Coric out of higher commands ears; especially Anakin's. Of course she wouldn't dare say anything that would not help Rex, as she had been apart of trying to help the situation between the two as well.

She looked at Rex, waiting for his reaction.

"Yes Sir, it will be done immediately." The clone said in a voice that was not his own and gave a stiff, very formal salute.

Ok, she was not expecting that.

Anakin nodded satisfied yet still a little confused, obviously he was expecting Rex to lash out at him too, it's just who he was. "Good, I'll be expecting some progress tomorrow, first thing." He stormed past Rex and left the room in a huff.

Rex and Ahsoka remained standing where Anakin had left them in the room for at least a good full minute, neither of them moving. Ahsoka finally spoke.

"Rex, you shouldn't have let him speak to you like that." She mumbled.

The Captain finally moved and made his way to sit at the table, pulling out his data pad.

"I know." was all he said, shrugging a little and starting to work.

"That's it?!" Ahsoka said stunned, she stated to feel angry and threw her hands up in the air melodramatically, "You can't let him push you around like that! You have been dealing with other matters th-"

"When I should have been doing my job!" Rex yelled, immediately he felt bad for lashing out at the girl. "Ahsoka, I was in the wrong here. The General has every right to talk to me like that."

"No, he doesn't Rex!" Ahsoka was yelling at Rex but her anger lay with Anakin. "Why do you treat yourself like this?" The Padawan looked a little upset and embarrassed as she casually walked out of the room leaving Rex feeling even worse than before.

Rex took off his helmet and rubbed his hands over his face today was just not his day, he got to work straight away working overtime, and he'd have to prove himself to Ahsoka that he-… well he didn't know what he just felt he had to.

And he would.

_to be continued…_


	6. On better terms

Rex briskly walked down the corridors of the ship like a man on a mission. He'd hadn't slept at all as he'd been perfecting his plan for arresting Adabila and now he was on his way to Skywalker to put it forward to him. As he made his way down the next turn he caught out the corner of his eye an orange figure near his left, it was Ahsoka. He took his chance to keep his silent promise to himself.

"Commander," He knew Ahsoka heard him, she lifted her head slightly and started to quickly walk away upon the realisation it was Rex. He called again. "Commander?"

"I'm in a hurry at the moment Captain." She stalked straight past him, "I'm needed elsewhere." With that she was gone, Rex found it odd that she ignored him it wasn't like her and her face, she looked so- so serious. Rex had a feeling it had something to do with yesterday; well he was going to change that.

He quickened his pace to where Skywalker was waiting for him.

"This-," Anakin scanned through Rex's plan, "This is what I want to see Rex."

"Thankyou, Sir." Rex saluted politely, at least Skywalker was in a much more _tolerable_ mood today. Anakin looked up at Rex, still standing in his perfectly straight and composed stance.

"Sit down, Captain." The Jedi gestured to the seat across from his position at the table. Rex obediently complied.

"Ahsoka told me what happened." Anakin leaned back in his chair.

"Sir?"

"The incident, between Coric and Echo." Rex looked down; he carefully hid his reaction from the Jedi. Skywalker was not supposed to know, Ahsoka knew he had planned to keep the incident on the down low, what didn't make sense is why she would tell her Master.

Anakin continued, "She told me this is why you have been a little off task lately. Is this true?"

"Yes Sir, it is." Deep down Rex knew that wasn't really why, but Skywalker did _not _need to know the truth, no one but himself needed to know the truth. "I apologise for my behaviour and informal actions, Sir."

Anakin just sat there, as if he was trying to read Rex's face or whatever Jedi could do to try and uncover the truth, frankly Rex didn't care.

"What size shirt are you Captain?" Rex looked up, that was not what he was expecting the current conversation to turn to, he shrugged genuinely not having a clue what clothing size he was. "Here, try this on." Anakin tossed him a dress shirt that looked very much like something Admiral Yularen would most likely own.

The Clone took his armour plates off and slid the shirt on, attempting to do up the front but didn't succeed. Anakin frowned, "You're going to need a bigger size." Rex took the shirt off and started replacing his armour; Anakin answered his unasked question.

"You're the driver, and you'll be getting out of the speeder at the Hall so you still need to fit in, Rex." Rex gave a nod.

"I'll think we'll leave it at that Captain." Rex started to make his way to the door when he stopped and turned back to Skywalker.

"Sir, the report will be done in two hours."

Anakin sighed and thought for a moment before turning to face Rex. "Your men don't talk much, do they Captain." It was a statement rather than a question.

"Keep to themselves a lot, Sir. They don't bother themselves nor others with petty interactions of unimportance, otherwise referred to as _gossip_, Sir." Rex noticed a slight curve at the corner of Anakin's mouth.

"Then they won't mind forgetting what happened between them." Anakin was in that sympathetic state where he sincerely wanted to help in _his_ way, which meant covering it up.

Rex nodded his thanks and made his way out, smiling a little.

"That's quite regularly the case, sir."

Rex found himself once again making his way through the ships corridors, walking with purpose and pride.

He stopped.

He realised he actually didn't need to be anywhere, see anyone or do anything; at that moment he had finally gotten a _break_. He just stood in the corridor unsure of what to do now, there were a ton of things he always told himself he'd do when he got a moment but none of those things came to mind, he smiled as he enjoyed the empty silence of the moment. No one was yelling at him or wanting orders it was a rare moment of serenity for the Captain.

And it made him feel guilty.

There were hundreds of his brother's sacrificing their lives whilst he was standing there with a grin on his face doing absolutely nothing, he sighed and kept walking through the empty corridor, the grin from his face gone.

While being caught up in his little moment of shame, Rex hadn't realised where he was walking and found himself still in deserted corridors in a vaguely familiar part of the ship. He looked around and frowned upon realising where he was; D-town, he noticed a few droids in the distance going about their business and then a thought came to mind. _Storage Room_.

Rex casually made his way in the general direction of the Droid Storage Room where he had seen Ahsoka on his security watch, he didn't go straight to the room in case she was there again but if he walked around a bit, maybe he could find out what fascinated her about being down here.

And he did.

As he was about to turn to the left from where the corridor ended he gave a token glance to the right and that was when he saw her, Rex remained silent and backed up a bit so he was behind the wall a little and out of obvious sight. He watched as Ahsoka twirled around on the spot and gracefully moved around just like she had been doing when he noticed her on the security cameras.

He didn't mean to spy as he watched her for a good ten minutes, okay he _did_ mean to spy, but that spying answered his pounding curiosity as to what she was doing; she was _dancing_. She moved as if she was dancing with someone else, it actually looked quite funny, but he didn't dare laugh or give away his position.

Rex straightened up so his figure was completely out of sight, and leaned against the wall. _Ugh, this has got to stop, I can't keep thinking about her. What is wrong with me?_ He silently pleaded with his thoughts, making himself feel like a childish idiot. Just as he decided it was time for him to leave he heard a crash, he leant to the side to look at Ahsoka again and noticed she had fallen over, Rex chuckled a bit before carefully coming around the corner like he had just arrived.

Ahsoka looked up from where she was sitting on the floor, rubbing her head. "R-Rex! Uh, h-how long have you been here?"

Rex put on the best face of confusion he could. "I just came down to get a few droid parts and noticed you on the ground, Commander." he lied, "Is everything alright?" He noticed the sigh of relief and her worried expression disappear as she believed his little lie.

"Uh, yeah it is." She got up and brushed the invisible dirt off herself in nervousness. "I was just, um, I was running and hit the wall." Ahsoka mentally slapped herself; even though she tried to hide what she was really doing she still made herself sound like an idiot.

"No harm was done then, Commander?" Rex asked politely. He gave a small nod as she silently shook her head. "Excellent, then I should be going." he walked past her to the droid storage to keep his lie believable, the Jedi watched him go then left.

Rex sat in the Storage room for a while just thinking about the mission, he sighed after having enough of sitting in the clustered room, he got up and grabbed a random droid part and left for the barracks.

At least he now knew what Ahsoka was up to, he thought it was kinda cute, and on the plus side he sort of had an idea how to dance, but that was unfortunately a skill that was useless to him as he would never have need of it throughout his entire lifetime.

to be continued….


	7. Final Preparations

Ahsoka made her way slowly into the mess hall, she looked around for Rex as she always did first and if she couldn't find him she'd eat with anyone that was willing to have her there. She scanned the room for the familiar blue Captain's armour and her eyes found it… sitting alone… and staring at Coric and Echo. _Again._

Ahsoka sighed and dropped her shoulders; she thought Rex was finished, she thought this whole incident was finished! The young Jedi stormed up to where Rex was sitting and put her hands on her hips and glared, Rex just remained sitting with his head resting on his balled fist, deep in thought.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes, she gripped her hips harder in frustration when he didn't say anything, as she was about to not _yell_ but raise her voice a little at him, if you will, he spoke.

"Echo and Coric or Echo and Del? What do you think?" He asked slowly, his tone was flat as he was still thinking.

Ahsoka was taken back, and didn't have a clue what he was talking about, "Um, what, what are you talking about?"

Rex swivelled his arm to the side slightly so he was facing her and just gave her a 'what-do-you-think-I'm-talking-about' look, Ahsoka then understood it was about the mission, and instantly forgot what she was about to get angry at him for and sat down beside him.

"Well, uh, either way we need Echo because of his surveillance and observation skills, but you know that given the options you gave me." She replied as they both sat there staring at the group of clones that sat across the room, "And Coric is going to have to learn sometime that he needs to get along with Echo. So, I guess option one?"

Rex just grunted in response, still looking out of it and staring at the troopers, Ahsoka studied his face and sighed. "You haven't got any sleep because you've been thinking about which men to take?"

The Captain just grunted a yes.

Ahsoka rolled her eyes and ran a hand over her face, "Rex it's not very hard, just pick five men who you think will benefit the mission and get it done, we arrive on Coruscant in less than 15 hours."

Instead of receiving the reply she expected he actually turned his attention to her, despite his tired, sunken eyes he stared at her for a second before opening his mouth.

"Why did you tell Skywalker?" he asked.

Ahsoka looked at him confused before she understood, "I told him because he didn't understand that you were trying to save the Republic Army of an internal disaster of two soldiers acting like over sized man children, which was slowing your performance and contribution toward the mission."

Rex just laughed, "Fair enough."

"Seriously, I was afraid he was considering taking you off the mission and I don't think I would have been able to come up with the kind of stuff you do." She looked at him and smiled, "I'm sorry, we're still friends right?"

Rex straightened up from his position of resting on his hand, he smiled. "Of course, little 'un. It takes a hell of a lot more than dobbing me in to your Master to loose my respect."

Ahsoka opened her mouth and crossed her arms; she glared at Rex who just laughed. "I did not 'dob' on you Captain! I simply 'briefed' my Master on the current situation. That's how you boys put it, isn't it?" She grinned playfully.

"Oh, very nice comeback Commander, we clones _are_ starting to rub off on you." He laughed.

"And you know what else I've learnt from you Captain?" She asked sweetly, "I've learnt that in order to get what you want, you need to pull rank because you know the person all too well and that they're not going to listen to you." Ahsoka grinned and Rex looked at her confused.

"What?"

"Give me a list of the five men you have in mind for the mission then go get some sleep." Rex nodded, still confused about her previous statement, she quickly diminished any confusion he had when she continued, "That's an order, Captain."

Rex laughed she was quick witted, he had to admit that. Ahsoka handed him her data pad so he could record the names, well numbers, of the clones Rex wanted and thought would be suitable for the mission and handed it back to her.

"Well then," Rex got up and stretched his arms out, "I'm not one to disobey orders. Although, I have befo-."

Ahsoka smiled and rolled her eyes, cutting the Captain off, "Go, Rex." she laughed. Rex just grinned back and left to go get some shut eye.

00000000

Ahsoka waited while Anakin scanned the list of names Rex had recorded as part of the mission; really to him the numbers didn't mean anything or for that matter the names he just wanted troopers to get the job done. He couldn't tell a clone by his number but he rather recognised them by using the force or their distinct hairstyles, looks and obvious scars.

He looked at Ahsoka who was waiting for some kind of confirmation, he looked back down to that data pad and breathed in, he saw one number he recognised from a few missions back, and it was that trooper Echo.

"So, we've got Echo…"He paused not wanting to show he didn't know the troopers names in front of Ahsoka, as she was really serious when it came to the clones and their personalities and being individual and all. Ahsoka sensed her Master's clueless ness and finished the list for him.

"… Coric, Shock, Edge and Gel. Rex picked them for their abilities." She watched her Master's face look confused, "Is there something wrong Master?"

"Why has he got Echo and Coric together, considering the circumstances I don't think this is a wise choice." Anakin looked at Ahsoka, expecting an explanation.

"Master that was my idea. I told Rex that Echo and Coric have to learn to work together, not let petty feuds stand in the way of the mission. I assure you that they'll get the job done. Besides, that's all in the past now."

Anakin sighed, "Well let's hope your right Snips." He wavered at Ahsoka to leave as he turned around toward his Comm. "Go make sure you're all set for when we arrive, we'll have three hours to get set up, everyone briefed and ready to go. I have to contact Senator Amadala to confirm final preparations."

Ahsoka nodded and left the room, she went over anything else that needed to be done she snapped out of her train of thought when she realised there was one thing her Master and Rex hadn't done. She made her way to the war room and opened up a comm channel to contact Commander Fox.

If things got out of hand they'd need a side back up just to be safe, Ahsoka was rather proud of herself for considering this as she waited for the Clone to respond.

"Coruscant Guard, Fox Here." The Commander responded.

"Commander, I have a request to ask of you."

to be continued………


	8. In action

"Twenty minutes until we arrive, General." Anakin nodded his understanding to Admiral Yularen before turning to his Padawan beside him.

"Are you ready Snips?" He winked, and looked up at Captain Rex who had just arrived on the bridge. He saluted and remained in his perfect posture.

"Rex, we are going to delay the briefing until we are _on_ Corouscant, preferably just before we leave."

"Yes Sir." Rex replied, feeling a little uneasy about Skywalker's choice.

000000

As the Resolute went through it's usual docking procedure, Rex went to round up the five clones who he needed to remain with him at all times until they we're set up, once he rounded all five men up they made their way toward the meeting room inside headquarters waiting for Skywalker and his Padawan.

Anakin walked in a few minutes later followed by Ahsoka who was carrying a box, she placed it on the table in the middle of the room, and she was grinning excitedly.

"Package has arrived, Captain." Anakin smiled, gesturing toward the box. Ahsoka scrummaged through it looking for a particular item... her dress. She pulled out two suits and studied them briefly before deciding which belonged to which male. Anakin's shirt was a cream colour with a gold band around the belt, whilst Rex's driver's outfit was much plainer; it just consisted of a white shirt with no extra extravagances. The rest of the outfit was basically the same apart from Anakin's black coat had fine, gold silk patterns carefully weaved into it that were just barely visible, whilst Rex's still ultimately remained just black.

With one hour left before everything took place Rex was already suited up as he returned to the meeting room, he pulled and tugged at his new outfit it felt so alien to him and he felt weird yet in the back of his mind he actually quite liked it. _A lot._

Rex made his way into the room and immediately as he stepped through the door immature bursts of laughter filled his ears as all five clones were staring at him. They all had tears in their eyes as they watched their fearless Captain turn a bright shade of red in embarrassment; Rex straightened and folded his arms.

"Wow sir, your looking mighty _handsome_." Coric couldn't control his laughter.

Rex rolled his eyes as Shock came up beside him and checked out his outfit, he chuckled and looked up at Rex. "You, ah, expecting a bit of something from somebody, Sir?"

"Wha-. no! I- This is what I ha- "Rex stammered, getting embarrassed.

Gel started jumping around in front of him fluttering his eyelashes and putting on a feminine voice as he cut Rex off, "Oh Rexy, you're looking ever so dashing tonight." Gel giggled as he pretended to act like Ahsoka and frolic around him, and leant against his arm.

Edge joined in with Gel, "Please, will you dance with me Captain! I-I think I love you!" All the clones burst out in laughter, Gel was practically rolling around on the floor and Edge was complaining his stomach ached. Rex rolled his eyes, and secretly wished someday Ahsoka might really say that too him, but he kept his little dreams to himself.

"Will, you all stop it! I have no choice to wear this..." he tugged at the jacket, "…this thing!"

All the five men eventually stopped laughing and focused on what the Captain was explaining to them, they all looked serious as they took in the information and stored every word to ensure this mission would be a success.

"Okay, so we all understand the plan?" Rex watched as all the troopers nodded and barked a series of 'Yes Sir'. "Good, because we're leaving now."

Rex piloted the first Speeder it was black and looked sleek and expensive; he followed by another behind them that held his five men. They approached the Jedi temple and made their way inside to where Skywalker was waiting for them all for final briefing, they made their way into the room where the General was also dressed up in his outfit for the night.

All the clones saluted, and positioned themselves around the holo table as Anakin went through final plans.

"This will be a simple mission, Ahsoka and I will be inside searching for Adabilla, we will keep in contact with ear pieces so stay alert." He brought up a map of the hall, "Entry points are here, here and here; we will be using these two here. As soon as either Ahsoka or myself have identified and confirmed the position of Adabilla that's when you guys are to come in and grab him, we will hopefully have him restrained and distracted so it's stays simple."

"If things get more complicated and we are greeted with Seps, then you know the drill. We shoul-"Anakin paused at the sound of the door behind him opening, and Ahsoka walked in quickly.

"Sorry, I'm late." She mumbled quietly, Anakin laughed a little at her all dolled up, she'd gone to a lot of effort. He noticed she was tense and embarrassed.

"Wow, Snips. You scrub up pretty well for a youngling." He chuckled, trying to get her to relax.

Ahsoka predictably took the bait and put her hands on her hips looking at her master in mock anger. "Padawan! I am not a youngling!"

Anakin laughed and returned to explaining the final minor details, as he was speaking Rex kept trying so hard to listen but his eyes repeatedly snapped back to Ahsoka. The moment she walked into the room his breath caught in his throat, he tried to steal glances at her, to the point where he had to refrain himself from practically gawking at her elusive form.

Rex could feel a little jealousy rise in him as he thought about their positions in this mission; so far Skywalker seemed to be the lucky one. He shook the jealous thoughts out of his mind and continued to admire the Commander, her dress was a silky cream colour that had fine gold patterns of simple flowers that made their way up the dress, it so smartly matched Anakin's luscious outfit down to the last thread.

He watched as she pulled one of the very thin straps that had fell down her arm back over her shoulder, she looked across at him and smiled quickly diverting her gaze. He noticed her cheeks go an ever so faint purple colour, he finally focused back on the last words Anakin was saying, he knew the whole plan anyway.

Anakin finished speaking and made his way out toward the first Speeder; Rex turned to his men and nodded.

"Hoo-rah boys, let's go party." Shock announced as Rex motioned for the troopers to make their way to the speeder; they all ran out in single file to the second speeder and ready for action.

00000

Rex shifted in the driver's seat trying to get comfortable, the seat was hard and actually felt too small; he thought it did anyway. He glanced in his rear view mirror at the traffic behind but Ahsoka sitting in the back caught his eye, when she looked up at the mirror he shifted his eyes away and opened up communication to the other speeder.

"Escort, are you in too close a range?" Rex spared a quick glance to the right to see if they were too near.

"Negative Lead, we've got a 500 metre distance between us and your position." Shock responded.

"Good, keep it at that and keep us in sight."

"Will do, Sir."

Rex changed lanes and could see the hall up in the far distance, he felt Anakin lean through from the back seat also looking at the Hall.

"Very large building, eh Sir?." Rex commented on the architecture in the distance, "Although it looks quite small from this distance."

Anakin nodded, "Oh yes, it's very big. It's one of Coruscant's largest and most luxurious hotels; shame we'll only be viewing a very small part of it where _Niala_ Hall is located."

Anakin leaned back into his seat and pulled out the comm pieces he and Ahsoka were to use, he asked Ahsoka to open her mouth so he could sit the small piece in her tooth, and once it was fitted he asked her to do the same for him. They both placed the bead-sized link in their right ear and tested it so it was on the same line as the others.

Glancing in the rear view mirror again, this time genuinely looking behind them, Rex spotted two speeders that seemed to be in a chase, he straightened up and kept switching his gaze between the mirror and in front of them.

"Hang on, what's this?" he mumbled as the first speeder flew straight past them and weaved its way through the skyline. "A couple of crims, running from something?"

The second speeder came roaring up beside them, Anakin leaned forward from the back again and looked ahead, and he frowned and craned his neck to see behind him, the other speeder was coming up.

"Gang war, maybe?" Anakin suggested.

The second speeder dodged the cars next to it and as it tried to make its way through the traffic determined to catch up to the first, the driver lost control and hit the right lane, causing a collision. Rex immediately put evasive techniques into use as he piloted around the speeders being knocked about in the air, bit's of vehicles flew past and hit others, there was one that had almost exploded.

"Escort, we've engaged a bit of a situation here, how far off are you?" Rex was trying not to yell into the link, "Escort?"

"Captain, we can see it in the distance on the left th-." Edge ended his sentence quickly when another two speeders roared past him with guns a blazing, he swore and yelled into the comlink, "Captain! There's two more inbound, get out of there!"

The five clones watched as the Speeder their Captain was driving came into sight, they awed at the collision that was making its way further down the skyline. "One's lost control! Rex?!"

Rex could hear Edge just fine, he was trying to concentrate on not getting him and the other two occupants of the speeder killed, he looked behind him and his eyes widened as he saw the third speeder hit two others and bounced up in the air. Guns were still going off from different directions.

"_Shab_." Rex muttered as he pulled the speeder to a hard left dodge, he activated his seat belt and he instructed Ahsoka and Anakin to do the same. Anakin however was still leaning forward to the front, Rex could see the side of his General's face it was so close.

"Sir, you need to sit down no-!" Rex was cut off as the third speeder that had been thrown into the air landed on their right side pushing them out of control. Anakin flew forward and hit the windscreen in the front, sliding over the front passenger seat unconscious. Rex didn't risk sparing a glance down at Skywalker as he tried to stabilize the Speeder to safety, he heard Ahsoka crying out to her Master and that told him things were bad.

In a split second, emergency decision Rex slammed his feet on the brake causing the Speeder to skid needing control of the driver to direct it to a halt. Rex this time heard Ahsoka yell as a yellow vehicle came sliding into them and knocking with force into the left side of their own Speeder.

The unconscious form of Anakin was knocked off the seat and down further to the floor, Rex was breathing heavily deciding what to do.

"Rex! If we stay here we're going to get hit again and be killed! Master needs help, get us out of here!" Ahsoka's cries rang through his ears; the five clones in the other Speeder could hear it all.

"Captain, there's a parking lot down to the right." Gel's voice filled Rex's ear, he nodded and piloted the three of them to the area Gel just explained.

When they were parked and safe, Rex deactivated his seatbelt and leant over the back to make sure Ahsoka was alright, she nodded and deactivated her belt also and quickly scurried forward toward her Master.

Rex got out of the Speeder and made his way around to the other side, opening the door to get to Skywalker; he lifted the General up and got him lying across the driver and passenger seats. Ahsoka gasped when she saw his face covered in blood, it was smeared across the area of impact on the windscreen too.

"Escort, where safe. We're down in the parking lot and Skywalker is unconscious and knocked up pretty rough."

"Rodger that. We're just about there."

Ahsoka was calling Anakin's name, but it was no use he was knocked out cold and needed medical attention.

Rex checked all the vital signs. "Why didn't you get back when I told you to, Sir?." Rex mumbled quietly to himself.

Ahsoka got out of the Speeder just as the clones approached and landed next to them.  
Coric came running out with a med kit toward Skywalker and they lifted him out and laid him down on the ground, Shock let out a low whistle as he noticed the damage to the Speeder.

"Wow, what a spot of luck you guys had, eh?" he joked.

"What are the chances; a few crims decide they wanna rob a bank, or whatever happened, when the Republic chooses to execute an undercover mission." Gel commented.

"And almost kill a Jedi." Shock added.

"What's the plan now, Sir?" Echo asked. Rex looked over at Ahsoka who was helping Coric stabilize Anakin.

"Captain, he needs proper medical attention." Coric looked up at Rex, "We need to get him back, now."

"Understood. We need to cont-"

"Wait! What about the arrest? This may be the only chance the Republic has of catching Adabilla so easily." Ahsoka cut off Rex with worry in her voice; worry for her Master's condition and for the success of the mission.

"Commander, we need to get him to a hospital immediately. _You're_ in charge and you are going to have to think of something _now_ if you want this mission to continue and succeed." Rex replied quietly.

The Padawan stood there clearly racking her brain for an alternative to the situation, she looked down at her master and then at Rex, she narrowed her eyebrows as a plan came to mind.

"You know the plan just as well as Master and the others, Rex; better than all of us in fact." She started. "You're going to have to fill in for Anakin."

"What?" Echo asked looking over at Rex.

"There is no blood on his Shirt, we could pull this off. All you have to do is pretend to be Anakin, simple." She urged.

Rex looked down at the General's unconscious form then back at the Commander, "Alright, let's do it. Coric, carefully remove General Skywalker's coat and shirt." Rex started taking off his own while he spoke, "Don't get any blood on it."

Coric started removing the Shirt off Anakin with the help of Edge; they pulled it off and handed it to the now shirtless Rex. Ahsoka looked away and blushed at the sight of Rex's muscular bare chest; she'd seen him without a shirt or armour occasionally in the gym but this scene made her cheeks go purple.

Anakin was considerably smaller than Rex; the Captain noticed that when the shirt was just a bit snug, he moved his arms a bit to try stretch the material out a little.  
Shock handed Rex the coat assisted with the cuffs of the shirt, Coric and Edge carefully replaced Anakin's bare chest with Rex's white shirt.

"You still need a driver." Echo warned.

Rex smiled and threw him his plain black, drivers coat whilst he put on Anakin's elaborate one. "Well Echo, guess that's gotta be you then, eh?"

"Yes Sir." Echo took off his chest armour and placed the coat over his black skivvies, he still remained with his armour on the bottom half, he looked at the quietly giggling Shock who just shrugged and turned to the side still laughing at his brothers ridculous new look.

"You'll just be staying in the Speeder then, Echo." Rex informed, "When you go 'round the back, put your armour back on and be ready to get in with the others. Understood?"

"Sir!" Echo saluted.

Rex turned to Ahsoka to see if they were done stabilizing Skywalker, she nodded up at him and Rex turned back to the others.

"Coric and Gel, I want you two to take the General back to the pit." He motioned toward the Speeder he had just mangled, "Take this one, we can't be turning up to this gig in a hunk of scrap metal."

Gel nodded and they helped get Skywalker into the beaten up Speeder, they lifted him in and got ready to leave, Edge spoke up unsure of where he and Shock were going.

"Sir, what about Shock and myself?"

"We're still operating in pairs, Edge." Rex responded, "Since things have been shaken up a bit, we are now one trooper down as I am now replacing Skywalker's position. So, Edge, you will be going with Gel and Coric to drop off Skywalker and Shock you're with Echo in the Passengers seat. Clear?"

"Crystal, Sir." Edge responded.

Edge and Coric got into the Speeder and kept Skywalker under control, the Captain turned to Gel who was going to be the driver, "Remember, you have _got_ to be back before we make the arrest. Keep in contact and let me know where you are."

He put his head through the back window and looked at Coric hovering over Skywalker's body, holding the drip. "Think you can keep him alive until you get back to base?"

Coric smiled and nodded at the Captain, "Oh-h okay, if I have to Sir." He laughed, and winked before the Speeder took off.

"Excellent. Let's move out!" Rex ordered.

_To be Continued…_


	9. Adorable?

Note: Sorry guys! Been a bit late aye? Haha My bad, I promise I'll try have the next one done soon! I'm totally back in my groove! YAY! Sachariah, I hope you enjoy. Because your too kind with your words of kindness! Lol xx

Enjoy…..

Rex stared out the window again watching the colours of the lights whizzing past him contrasting brightly against the dark night. The atmosphere in the speeder was awkward to say the least; he looked ahead noticing Niala Hall was close, _Thank Shab_.

"Comm still working?" He asked Ahsoka sitting quietly next to him to break the silence.

"Yeah."

Silence.

He shuffled again. "Don't worry, he'll be fine."

Ahsoka stared out the window intently, "I know," She slumped into her chair, "I'm more concerned about us."

"Because I'm a clone? Half the senators have never laid eyes on one of us, I'll be fine."

"No. Because I don't think those criminals who nearly knocked us out of the sky were what we thought."

Rex looked at Ahsoka, trying to gage some kind of reaction from her, some kind of information, when Echo's voice came from the front. "Entering Niala Hall now sir."

He looked up at Echo and nodded, the hall was incredible, the gardens out the front artificial but beautiful lit up with soft lights that added the high class stature of the incredible building. All occupants of the speeder memorised the front layout for future reference. As the speeder pulled up to the grand door, Rex exited and walked around to open Ahsoka's door.

"Sepies?" He asked her in a low tone as she eased out of the speeder gracefully.

"Possibly." She gave a curt nod and walked past him toward the door.

Rex closed the door behind her. _Excellent_ He sighed and followed her up the burgundy carpet to give her his arm. _Time to look the part Rex ol' boy._ They slowly walked up to the doorman, an old man with shinning silver hair.

"A most good evening to yourself Sir," the doorman bowed to Rex, then turned to Ahsoka, "And Sir's madam. Welcome to the 250th Antei Satii ball. May I have your names."

Rex straightened up and smiled at the doorman, it was now time for the fake façade that would be 'Anakin Skywalker' to appear.

"Anakin Skywalker" he gave a small smile and took Ahsoka's hand, "And this is Miss Tano."

The doorman scanned through his data pad and gave a courteous nod and bow in response. "You are free to go in. Enjoy your night Sir." he bowed at Ahsoka, "And madam."

They began to make their way to the door, breathing a sigh of relief, until the doorman's voice flew back at them.

"Please excuse me for moment." Ahsoka gripped Rex's arm tightly, "Skywalker? As in Anakin Skywalker the Jedi?"

Rex panicked, this wasn't something they wanted reaching the ears of Adabilla, but this simple doorman wouldn't be a threat right? Rex turned around and smiled.

"Yes."

"Pardon my asking Sir, but what business does an acclaimed Jedi like you have at a Senator's ball?"

"Old friends."

"I see." The doorman bowed politely before resuming his post. The pair walked through the grand glass doors into the entrance foyer to the hall; they both prepared themselves for the people they were to become tonight, snobby senators with too much money and too much time. Rex motioned his arm for Ahsoka to take so they could enter the famous hall and begin their mission.

The two stood there in awe at the structure inside, Niala hall looked amazing from the outside, but on the inside it was just simply incredible. The hall was a series of open rooms that catered for both privacy and publicity at the same time, circular tiers defined the different levels of the room, large glass windows that stood tall to the ceiling and exposed the most spectacular view of Coruscant, with balconies protruding from every grand doorway around the room. There were hundreds of stunning flowers from various planets arranged beautifully and spread around the room, creating such a natural and exclusive atmosphere.

However, the most central and alluring feature of all was the stunning water feature in the centre of the main room, it stood like a cylindric rush of water that seemed to have no end, it illuminated itself with a soft golden glow, brightening the flowers that decorated themselves around it. To Rex it seemed like an over kill, he didn't want to think about the astronomical amounts of credits spent on making tonight look 'good'.

"Beautiful." was all the two could breath in unison as they took in the sight and atmosphere of the hall, it was simply incredible.

Ahsoka leaned right and muttered to Rex, "Where do you suggest we begin?"

"I think our best move is to first find Senator Amidala, confirm we're here, and then it would be wise to begin carrying out our plan." He scanned the room, taking in the layout of the hall, processing and matching the map Ahsoka had acquired for study before the mission and filling in the gaps with the real visual in his mind.

"Excellent idea," Ahsoka smiled before adding, "milord."

Rex chuckled and straightened up, if that was possible the man had perfect posture. "I quite like the sound of that, gives me class."

Ahsoka rolled her eyes. "Gives you ego."

They made their way around the grand water feature nodding curteously at the dignitaries that passed them, feigning respect for those who they ultimately despise. It was actually more difficult than Rex was expecting to find the senator, his anticipation would spike at the sight of a human female sporting an elaborate brunette hairdo, only to be mislead in disappointment as they approached each stranger. Finally, Rex could hear the call of Ahsoka's name from a familiar voice; the pair turned and greeted their approaching ally. The captain noted the other trio that was in toe behind the senator.

Padme looked at Rex with confusion as she approached, he was prepared with an elucidation for the reason of him in fact not being the man she was expecting to see tonight, however he did not prepare one in the event there were 'extras' involved.

"Ahsoka. It is good to see you." Padme turned to Rex, he briefly noticed her slight frown at the sight of him. To his relief, Ahsoka obviously had worked it out.

"And yourself senator, it's been too long." Rex was surprised at the established formality she had adopted in the span of at least five minutes, he let her continue, unsure how she was going to approach the issue only the three of them out of the now group of six were tense of. "You remember Anakin of course." She smiled.

"Yes, of course." Padme acknowledged Rex with a warm smile, then turning to the three approaching dignitaries behind her, she first introduced two very 'sheltered',(as Rex would describe them) male humans. "I would like you both to meet Del Ballantine and Tallin Gouldur, both Republic treasurers." Padme then turned to the woman standing among them, "And this is Matsu Satore, the new Head of Indigenous relations on Tei'yamatii."

Both Rex and Ahsoka greeted the trio accordingly, although they possessed little interest about who these people were and what position they held, nevertheless courteously was a given.

"It's a pleasure gentleman, and ma'am." Rex shook the hands of each of the three guests, receiving astounded, but subtle, looks from the two women standing beside him. _I'm sure I look like quite the idiot, this isn't even me, but I'm not supposed to be me. Am I overdoing it?_

The man that was Goulder acknowledged Rex first, "It is a pleasure, uh, Skywalker is it?" Rex gave an affirmative nod to the man.

"Skywalker? The Jedi?" It was now Ballantine speaking.

Rex could see the slightly nervous glances he received from the two women, but skillfully countered a satisfying, -well what he thought to be satisfying-, lie. "I assure you I am no Jedi, sir. You must have me confused with General Harkin, who is an acclaimed Jedi himself."

Ballantine considered Rex's words, with slight confusion; the Captain offered further clarification to the lie, finding the man's puzzlement and misplacement rather humorous. "It is a common mistake made by many; I suffer no offense." Rex looked in relief as Ballantine seemed satisfied with the lie. _No risk blowing our little veneer._

"Yes, well, very good." Rex inwardly huffed at the man's held pride.

"I am curious as to the roles both of you play in the government chain." The small group turned their attention to Satore, the woman was asking out of pure innocent curiosity when meeting someone new that one knew nothing of. Rex had to admit that he did not possess a prepared answer for this one, and from the lack of explanation from Ahsoka, he figured she didn't either. He confidently laid his trust in Padme, who as expected rose to the query with smooth, unwavering confidence.

"Anakin is representing our royal finance sector tonight, as Ailion couldn't make it due to illness, this is his partner Ahsoka Tano." Padme gestured toward the two, who stood very uneasy in their revealed bogus façades.

"Ah! Most excellent!" Goulder seemed delighted that his area of expertise was now being discussed, "I don't mean to mix work with pleasure, but I must ask, do you think it's wise to agree to the nominal 160 billion credit ten year revenue hike instead of the partial or complete repeal of the war tax cuts?" he asked good naturedly.

Rex could feel the tension, knowing what was racing through the minds of Padme and the Commander, but he just smiled knowingly, _I'm sure, no positive; they believe I won't be able to answer this. It is definitely my chance to prove to them both that clones are more than just 'mindless' soldiers, well most of us._ Rex in fact did know exactly what to say to this man inquiring about the actions of those in his fake profession, Rex read the holonet, kept up to date with news and current affairs, he always believed it was in his right to understand what he was fighting to save, what his brothers were dying to protect, and often Rex didn't like it, but it was a part of democracy. He had a vague idea in what to respond with to satisfy this man, and he was more than eager to share his views, it was rather refreshing to be able to have well respected people hear his opinion, a much more exciting conversation about politics with politicians than with fellow clones who most of the time thought the captain was 'too attuned' was rather exciting.

"I am afraid I do only work in publicity," Rex smirked in what he described 'satisfaction' as both Ahsoka and Padme's eyes snapped toward him, he continued confidently, "However, we are currently negotiating a deal that consists entirely of spending cuts, leaving ourselves the flexibility to use the cancellation of the war tax cuts as leverage."

"Well, yes that does make sense. I do hope for a positive outcome." Goulder nodded in satisfaction with the answer, oblivious to the Togruta standing beside him staring in shock at Rex. "So your expertise is in war tax? Tell me, what is your outlook on the financial situation regarding supply and, well primarily, weapon expense for the Republic troopers?"

Rex's smile grew even wider; this is was just his kind of conversation. _Perfect_ "You are talking to the right man, this is certainly my particular area of interest and _expertise_."

0000

Ahsoka couldn't believe what she was hearing, Rex, was currently discussing politics in the most calm and knowledgeable way, and everything he was saying made perfect sense. Rex. Captain Rex. Flinching slightly at her thoughts, _A Clone!_. Ahsoka was impressed to say the least, she never knew this side of him, or his apparent interest in this, and she would have to confront him about this sometime.

Ahsoka strategically took this time to break away and explain the situation to Padme, she politely cut into the conversation between the three men, still quite shocked at Rex.

"Please, excuse us gentlemen. Senator Amidala and myself will return with some drinks in a moment." She excused herself and the senator, noticing Padme was quick to catch on. The men just brushed them off still deeply immersed in discussion, Rex leading in confidence.

The two women stood away from the group watching them talk, Padme crinkled her nose in thought then looked at the young girl next to her, "That, Is very impressive."

"I, agree." Ahsoka was just as baffled as Padme at the sight before her, but found it a rather refreshing and unique scene. The Jedi smiled at her most trusted colleague expressing his personal opinions with men that he would have never had the opportunity to express to, given his status as a clone. Ahsoka felt a slight pang of heartache at the scene, knowing that those men he was talking to, accepting him as one of their own, probably didn't even know what a clone looked like, given that they were even talking to Rex proved that. _He is right, they have never even seen a clone._ Ahsoka thought that was wrong, how could anyone think that clones were, well, clones. Copies of a man? No. They weren't copies, they were individuals and you only had to see the scene before her to understand that. Ahsoka hadn't realized she had been clenching her fists, when Padme gently touched her arm, pulling her attention from Rex.

"Why is he here?" Padme saw the flash of annoyance on the young girls face, she remembered Anakin's discussion on Ahsoka's attachment to the clones and hurriedly continued, "I mean to say, where's Anakin?"

"Uh, there was a, _situation_. He's fine, I think." Ahsoka noted Padme's rising concern, "A few crims just decided they wanted to interrupt smooth operations is all, nothing too serious, Master is just, er, not available right now."

"Isn't it a greater risk by having him, I mean, _Rex_ here?"

"No." Ahsoka discreetly gestured toward the group deeply confounded in Rex's words, she huffed in annoyance, "They don't even know. As much as it doesn't seem beneficial to your knowledge senator, but I can confidently go as far as to say your most likely one of- no, _only_ senator, yet alone civilians that could identify a clone."

Padme didn't respond, she just looked at the girl. Ahsoka wasn't sure if she had offended or enlightened the senator. Was it wrong that right now she didn't really care? The answer would most likely be yes, but she couldn't help it. However, Ahsoka was surprised when Padme seemed to prove she was wrong.

"Yes, I take comfort in that knowledge." She smiled. "So, you have a vague plan I hope?"

"Yes. We have back up en route after they take, Master back to medical." Ahsoka casually glanced at the waiter that walked past, and self consciously lowered her voice, "We can't risk going in until we have that back up, we don't know what to expect as of yet, we're still blind."

Padme nodded understanding, she straightened up and eyed the approaching waiter thoughtfully, and the man looked rather rugged and seemed far too interested in Ahsoka. He approached and lowered the tray of drinks to the two women, both politely grabbing the promised drinks to their companions. The waiter sauntered off, Padme turned to Ahsoka who was also eying the mysterious man thoughtfully. The young girl grinned and winked at Padme, the older woman chuckled as she watched Ahsoka gestured toward her hips and mouth 'must be the dress' as they approached their previous party. Padme spared a glance over at the male waiter they had just collected their drinks from; she disregarded the nagging feeling that was present at the thought of him.

Ahsoka handed Rex a glass of some kind of ale, noticing his quick glance at her own glass. She didn't miss the slight frown then breath of relief from him at the lack of intoxicant in her own drink. She brought the glass to her lips smiling at his protectiveness; it was certainly admired, if not adored. _Whoa, since when do you 'adore' gestures like this, by… men._ It troubled her that she allowed herself to be satisfied with that protectiveness he so often displayed.

Ahsoka reluctantly turned her attention back to Padme and her attempt to usher their 'extra load' forward so her and Rex could begin some kind of progress.

"Gentlemen, there is another group of dignitaries I'd like to introduce to you, if you would please follow me." Ahsoka smirked, Padme was all charm.

"Ah yes, of course." Ballantine nodded at Rex, shaking his hand. "You have rather very focused and appealing thoughts and ideas on this topic that I would love to see put into notion, Mr Skywalker. Please, I would love for you to push these further, look me up when you are ready to do that and you will have my full support."

"Thank you Sir." Rex nodded, Ahsoka relaxed at the familiarity in that saying from Rex, he was still there, the one she knew… and preferred. She nodded and shook hands out of respect and bid farewell to the group before turning to Rex and sighing casually.

"Well, alone at last!" She joked. She looked up at Rex who stared after the group, his face in a mask of thought.

"That- That was incredible, Si- Ahsoka!" His face lit up as he continued, it looked rather adorable… there was that word again, why? Ahsoka lightly took a step to the side creating the tinniest, amount of distance between the two of them suddenly feeling too close. "They listened to every word! Did you hear what he said? I had no idea that my ideas, my opinions, were so, uh, inspiring."

"It was very impressive, _Anakin_. I never knew you had such a strong interest in politics."

"Yeah, well, got to have a hobby right?" He gave a small grin that made a certain word push itself into Ahsoka's mind again; before she could elaborate on it he was back to business. "What was Amidalla's reaction?"

"Good, actually better than expected. I've briefly outlined what happened, also giving her some guide to our 'arrange', she can be expected to follow."

Rex nodded, satisfied with her answer. Things were going good, according to plan (as best they could).

Rex's attention was caught by the deep beat of the music filling the room; he looked toward the source ahead of them noticing an individual on the stage singing in a very exotic way. He noticed it was a male Twi'lek, but Rex noticed he didn't seem to present himself in a very masculine way, it was rather obvious, the outfit he wore and movements gave that away.

"That performer is male." Rex stated, unaware how to explain his question.

Ahsoka smirked, "Very observant."

"I mean, he's male. But he acts in a feminine way." Rex cocked his head to Ahsoka, his curious gaze expecting, patiently, an unasked explanation.

"Yes, he is gay."

"Gay?" Rex turned his gaze back toward the stage, "Do you mean the urban term to describe a being that is attracted to other beings of the same gender?"

Ahsoka broke into laughter, resting her hand on his forearm for support as her body swayed out of balance at her glee. Rex found her sudden outburst at his statement curious and rather satisfying at the same time, he may not understand why she found the recounted definition of the urban term funny and produce fits of giggles from her, but he did know he found it rather… adorable. He watched as her cheeks flushed purple as she giggled, and attempted to gather more air in between each fit.

"Yes," she chuckled, her laughter calming down, "The very one."

"Oh, I see."

Rex seemed satisfied with his response, and his curiosity about the man had been filled. He didn't find the 'gay' twi'lek offensive in any way, he noticed in reading the holonet that many beings did find this kind of 'lifestyle' offensive, and some he read had even described it as 'wrong'. Rex found he didn't mind, or really care for the twi'leks sexuality; frankly it didn't concern him at all, so he saw no problem in it.

"A few of the senators have similar 'views' and, support those views and his lifestyle. He was invited as a special guest, as well as guest entertainment. He is rather good, in my opinion. His music is very catchy." Ahsoka hummed along to the song being played. Rex listened and understood what she meant, the soft beat and the lyrics of forbidden love seemed so smooth and … fitting.

Rex felt a feint click in his ear as he recognized the sound of his hidden communicator acting lively, immediately he acknowledged it as contact from the outside. Ahsoka perked up as she too felt the slight hum, from the incoming connection in her own comm. She turned to face Rex, engaging their contact,

"Echo?"

"Sir." Echo's voice crackled in their audio, "Got a minute?"

"Go ahead, brother."


End file.
